2012 Dates Announced To Prepare Athletes for Paralympic Games

28-Sep-2011

NEWPORT, R.I. (September 28, 2011) – To facilitate athlete
preparation for the 2012 Paralympic Games, organizers of North America’s
premier event for sailors with disabilities – the C. Thomas Clagett Jr.
Memorial Clinic and Regatta – have moved the annual event to July 6-9,
2012, at Sail Newport, Rhode Island’s community sailing center.
Rescheduling The Clagett from its traditional late-August dates will
provide North American competitors with another training and competition
event prior to the Paralympic Regatta which will take place the first
week of September in Weymouth, England.

“Five American and six Canadian sailors who represented North America
at the 2008 Paralympic Games had participated in the 2008 C. Thomas
Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta as a final step in preparing for the
competition in China and those sailors collectively produced two gold
and two bronze medals,” said event founder Judy McLennan (Portsmouth,
R.I.). “We invite the Canadians to again send their athletes so that
the North American contingent can work together as training partners,
and we hope that The Clagett can again play a part in the success of the
sailors who will compete in the 2012 Paralympic Games.”

Open to both U.S. and foreign competitors, the clinic and regatta
will take place in the three boats chosen as the equipment of the
Paralympic Regatta: the three-person Sonar, the two-person SKUD-18 and
the singlehanded 2.4 Metre. Two years ago, at the competitor’s request,
regatta organizers opened the 2.4 Metre class to allow able-bodied
sailors to compete in The Clagett which doubled the number of entrants
on the starting line. Starting with the 2012 event, the Sonar class
will also be open to able-bodied sailors. Having more boats on the
line translates into stiffer competition and offers the best possible
training opportunity for Paralympic hopefuls.

Marking its 10 year anniversary in 2012, the Clagett Regatta provides
sailors with disabilities the tools to improve their skills and the
opportunity to test them in competition, which allows each individual to
achieve their personal competitive goals. The event’s signature
pre-race clinic (Friday, July 6), run by world champion sailors who
share their expertise on everything from the racing rules to sailing
techniques, is followed by on-the-water coaching during three days of
racing (Saturday-Monday, July 7-9).

About the C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Clinic & Regatta:
Founded in 2002, the C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta
honors the late Tom Clagett (1916-2001), a U.S. Navy World War II
veteran who learned to sail on Chesapeake Bay. As a youngster he
suffered temporary paralysis as the result of a bout of meningitis; an
experience that left him with a deep respect for the accomplishments of
people with disabilities, especially athletes. “The Clagett” began as
an event for a single class of boat with a stated mission of assisting
sailors in realizing their potential on the water by providing them –
through the one-day clinic that precedes racing – both the knowledge and
tools to improve their skills, and the opportunity to test them in
competition. The event has expanded to include all three boats that
have been chosen as the equipment of the Paralympic Regatta: the
three-person Sonar, the two-person SKUD-18 and the singlehanded 2.4
Metre. Not only has The Clagett formula paid off with medal success by
event veterans at the 2008 Paralympic Games in China, it has, according
to competitors, improved their quality of life as they apply what is
achieved on the water to everyday situations.